concerning DA2 starting with the simple problems/annoyances ranging
on down to the big ones, also including a "Things I liked" section, and a scored review in sumation after three playthroughs and counting. I've done this to get a better idea of where the community
stands with the game and how I place within, so without further delay..
Wall-o-Text incomming.
Minor problems I've found with the game:
1.
Bugs. Plain and simple, easy to remove and I'm sure most of them will
be eventually, but they are so numerous as of present that they often
give me a headache when stumbled upon.
2.
Loading times and occurrences. Perhaps it's just me (and I'm being sarcastic), but the
loading times between transition seem considerably longer that the
previous game. The troubling part of it is that in DA2 you trasition
areas so damned often as opposed to DA:O that it makes you feel like
half the game is just waiting on a loading screen. Most areas are short
and require less than a minute of my time before I'm moving on to another
area which must be loaded once more. Not a huge deal, but hey, worth
pointing out.
3. Usage of certain runes. Now I
know on Devastation and Valiance runes it tells you the effects only
apply 1 per armor peice/weapon, but then that brings the question up:
Why are you even aloud to put more than 1 of that type in a weapon or
peice of armor if it doesn't work? On top of that I guess they forgot to mention
that only 1 Valiance rune takes effect throughout your entire set of
armor, because I've noticed the other 2 aren't added to my attributes.
4. Improper references to imported DA:O saved data. Self-explanatory. Not a big deal but it would be nice if the story coincided a little closer with what previously happened in the last game.
Now the good stuff..
Major problems:
5. Let's start with lack of customization, choices, & variety. This one is a biggie for me, if not, the biggest. I like managing what ALL my characters wear, period. I want them to look how I want and be fit for what I want, even if it doesn't match their designated profile at all. I'd also like to choose in some method or another which sibling lives or dies in the beginning. Just cause I'm a freakin mage does't mean I don't want another one to tag along for the rest of the trip. Not to mention Carver bothers the living hell out of me. Then there's the fact that most armor and weapons have the same boring look to them, and the ones that don't are usually crap. That fallen set had its usefullness for about 10 mintues until I picked up some new ordinary looking gear and swapped out. Dunno why, but generic and "Superior" generic gear conquers all in this game. I don't like saving Kirkwall looking like your average city guard. Then even some of the unique gear has a generic look to it.. What the hell for? I have a feeling if I was aloud to manage my team's gear, they'd all end up looking the same. This list goes on and on, but the idea here should be clear. The more choices a player gets to make, the better.. well generally speaking.
6. Reusuage of scenario areas. This ties into lack of variety, and holy $%&#! is it annoying to say the least. I fell asleep on half the quests in this game simply becuase I was deja vu'ing over and over again about quests I'd already done. Then there's all those cutoff regions the map shows you but you can't access becuase this exact same area is going to be reused for yet another quest and that cutoff region will be open or closed depeneding on which quest it is. There's not a whole lot to say about this topic except that it's boringly repetitive, frustrating, and uncreative. This kinda thing really discourages the desire to explore and discover everything the game has to offer.
7. Level Scaling. Now this is purely my own opinion but, enemies leveling up with my characters just pisses me off and takes nearly all the enjoyment out of gaining a level. The concept of leveling is to make things easier for future progress, and if you're attempting a harder difficulty, having your enemies' level scale with yours really doesn't leave many options open if you're having a tough time aside from dumping your desired team and reforming to something undesireable but more effective. I'm sure this isn't considered a major issue for some, but for many of us it's a flashback to Final Fantasy VIII where getting stronger just meant ridiculously harder battles down the road, which is probably why it was the only one of its kind in the entire series.
8. Repetitive Enemy Groups. Sharp's Highwaymen - Generic Fighter, Archer, & Rogue.
Templar "Knights" - Generic Fighter, Archer, & Rogue?
Flint Company Mercs - Generic Fighter, Archer, & Rogue..
Amaranthine Conspirators - Generic Fighter, Archer, and you guessed it.. Rogues.
So if it isn't clear by now, I'll go ahead and clarify.. Why is nearly every faction a mirror of the last? I believe this is half the reason this new amazing battle system gets old REAL fast. The same tactics can be used for nearly every fight, becuase every fight is amost exactly the same. I'm not going to beat a dead horse here; I'm pretty sure everyone has noticed the dimished replay value of the game strictly because of this.
9. Game World Constriction. In most non-linear RPGs (at least to begin with), I feel a bit overwhelmed with the map, and I like that. I like not knowing where to start, where to begin my legacy of havoc and chaos, or whatever the hell it is I feel like causing. With DA2, I was anything but overwhlemed. Dissapointment would probably best describe my feelings when I saw the map. Three areas and a city that didn't amount to more than three areas overall, in my eyes at least. It wasn't bad enough to make all dungeons short to point that you could finish any of them within a 15 minute timeframe (if your the slow and easily lost type), but the game world was just a flat out dissapointment.
10. Decrease in Companions. Once again, this relates to #5. With the exception of Carver & Bethany, since their not actualy solid companions, there is a total of 7 characters you can use to build a team with. That's including Sebastian from the DLC, so 6 if you don't have it. In Origins there were 10, not including anyone from the expansion. This was a pretty big dissapoinment especially when you consider the fact that you can't even personalize anything aside from their weapon and trinkets.
11. Overall Lack of Depth. I've already hit many things pertaining to this topic, but just to hit a little harder since I believe it's so serious, I'll point out a few more things.
A) Aside from the the 3 specialization trees you get from promos, there are none. You can't get any new ones from playing the game and the ones you do get can't be spec'd into by other characters aside from Hawke.
Where's all my, "Every action has a reaction" at? After 3 full playthroughs and working on one more, I've noticed you're decisions and choices don't impact a whole lot throughout the course of the game. Just as your class and specs don't impact the choices you could make or how others react to you being a bloodmage or specing templar. C) So I stabbed the giant Rock Wraith with a hammer at the finishing cutscene.. How does that work? Different animations for different circumstances are needed.
D) I understand bandits and such jumping from building tops and windows, but templars? You've got to be kidding me. I don't have a problem with wave spawning but if you're gonna do it, do it right.
E) Romance/Friendship & Rivarlies are too linear. It's all straight foward and over-simplified. Your companions will either love you or hate you, and there's no more guessing what you need to say to win the love and affection of someone, because all the right chat options to use are handed to you on a silver plater. This really took the fun out of working on relationships for me.
F) Not enough Boss fights. For my taste anyways.
On a positive note:
Things I liked about DA2:
- The new combat system. It's awesome. It beats the living hell out of the same old generic, "I feel like I'm playing an MMO by myself" playstyle. Lable this under the things we rollover to DA3.
- Graphics. The improvement over Origins and Awakening is noticebly pleasing, but at the same time, it's not a drastic change that has people saying "What the hell happened to the unique look Dragon Age had?".
- Character developement. Now I've heard many who think it's still lacking, and hey a little more wouldn't hurt, but I definitely connected better with the companions in DA2 than I did in DA:O.
- Material gathering & Crafting system. Simple and sweet. I'm not playing an MMO, so you're nuts if you think I'm going to waste my time searching all over for the right ingrediants to make one consumable item in a single player console game.
- Increased usefulness of runes. In DA:O they were simply something to fill those empty sockets with. In DA2, they're actually worth building towards, and make a noticable difference in combat.
- Personalized specializations for companions. This I like. It doesn't exactly hit the mark when trying to diversify every character's worth in combat for harder difficulties, but the idea is still desirable.
- Night/Day. I haven't seen many games where this feature is a bad thing. It gives any area more replay value.
- Deeper Companion quests. Hands down, DA2 wipes the floor with Origins when it comes to your allies' side quests. They're longer, more plentiful, interesting, and more rewarding.
Overall Review:
Dragon Age II was a excellent game that just fell short of its predecessor consistantly in several areas. The literal length of the game wasn't he problem, but the general feel I got was that I felt cheated out of a much deeper, longer, and grasping experience. There were just too many unmemorable quests and fights that kept piling up until I just thought "Make it stop!". The pick and choose questing make this a great deal more bearable, but not enough to the point where I enjoyed questing.
The musical score wasn't bad but hardly something I'd consider memorable. The music can really add to a game's experience, and I can honestly say that if the score had been more enjoyabe to hear, It would've definitely improved my opinion of the game.
The new and improved fast paced combat system was probably the most noticeable & and enjoyable upgrade from Origins. Without this improvement, the overall score I'd have given the game probably woul've been a 7 or lower. It seriously blew me away during the demo and from there I was immediately hooked.
Storywise, it was immersive, enjoyable, and a cut just above interesting. By itself I couldve rushed through just to see what happens next and how the events folded out. However, there was some polishing necessary to take it from good to great.
To wrap this up let me just say I was very pleased with the game overall, but it wasn't without its dissapointments. I still had a feeling of disatisfaction when my experience was finished unlike it was with DA:O which shined even without its expansion to compliment it.
On a scale of 1 - 10 in my book, Dragon age II gets an 8.
If you took the time to read this post, then good on ya. Feel free to leave feedback.
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